"Our mission is to create and implement legal and management mechanisms to promote environmental reform and sound policy in a democratic, free-market Hungary."

We pursue our mission utilizing several methods and within various venues, ranging from the representation of an individual client from a small Hungarian village to the drafting of a bilateral environmental agreement with a European neighbor. EMLA's activities focus on the following:

	increasing public participation and the public's access to information in environmental matters
	drafting/producing scientific and legislative work, environmental studies, international agreements
	legal advising and court representation in environmental matters
	developing environmental NGO networks and identity
	capacity building, organizational and professional development of environmental NGO's
	engaging in formal educational activities including university teaching, student programs and internships
	business consulting directed at educating businesses to their legal responsibility vis-a-vis environmental regulation

EMLA has earned widespread respect and recognition as a neutral leader of the Environmental Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) community and as a source of technical and legal expertise and information. Over the past few years EMLA's projects have included playing a leading role in the GUTA process for the creation of the Environmental Law Association of Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States; participation in the drafting of the Aarhus Convention on Public Participation in Environmental Decisionmaking and Access to Justice; assistance to the Hungarian government in the European Union approximation process; and introduction of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) projects to Hungary. In addition, EMLA is frequently asked to share expertise on environmental matters on the radio, on television and in print.

EMLA has gone to the courtroom in over 50 cases each year for individuals and communities who have been victims of environmental injustices. EMLA has won some major victories, including at the level of the Hungarian Supreme Court. Some of EMLA's major cases in the past few years include the Garé and Kengyel hazardous waste incinerators and the Tokaj Vineyards. Not a week goes by without mention in the media of one of EMLA's cases. However, with limited time and resources, EMLA has found a way to help clients help themselves -- often a written analysis, a consultation, and several phone calls are enough to help clients successfully manage their cases on their own.

As EMLA works to build its own capacity, EMLA also recognizes the importance of building up other public interest organizations in order to strengthen networks and increase commitment to issues of public importance. EMLA has participated as the legal expert at the Annual Meeting of Hungarian Environmental NGO's. EMLA has also conducted legal advisory training sessions in order to strengthen local partners and expand the reach of the association's work. EMLA has worked with government at all levels, including such projects as the Local Environmental Action Program (LEAP) which provides a framework within which local governments learn to manage their environmental assets and responsibilities. With the help of the George Andrew Kellner Fund, EMLA has been able to provide support to its members on projects of environmental interest, engage in professional exchange, and bring a new colleague to EMLA to focus on GIS and Pollution Release and Transfer Registers (PRTR).

EMLA attorneys are also found teaching on environmental law and other topics in several Budapest universities including the ELTE Faculty of Law, the Pázmány Péter Catholic University, and the Central European University. Additionally, EMLA runs a Foundation for Environmental Education which brings together up to fifteen students from universities across Hungary to focus on an environmental management problem from a multidisciplinary perspective (science, management, law, and technology). Legal interns and other scholars come to EMLA as well to work on various projects and utilize EMLA's library containing resources on public participation, environmental management, GIS, and EMLA's own case files.

For further information about EMLA, its people, and its activities, please visit EMLA's website at www.emla.hu.